Another Colorado Trip

On Sunday, Sept. 12, brothers Singleton (Sam, Jon, Joe and Jay) and mother Singleton (Jo Ann) all piled into Jay’s mega cab Dodge pickup and drove straight through to Taylor Park, Colorado. The planning for this trip began several months ago when Jay made plans to pick up a ’47 Willy’s from our cousin Brooks and trailer it home. Jay thought it would be fun if all the boys (and mom) could make the trip and enjoy a week in the mountains helping Brooks with “projects” and do some fishing, hiking and panning for gold. Yes, I said panning for gold. Brother Sam did his research, brought his homemade sluice box and other gold mining equipment.

Let me start at the beginning. We left Vincennes at 7 p.m. The driving was shared by myself, Jay and Jon. Although we all tried to get some sleep, no one was very successful. We arrived at Pat Miller (Brooks’ significant other) in Colorado Springs in 16 hours. Pat had prepared a pot of soup and we had a really good meal and visit. Unfortunately, she will not be able to spend time with us while we are in Taylor Park.

The first day we spent unpacking, getting settled in, acclimating to the altitude and taking a much needed nap. Work and play started on day two. Brooks has lots of projects to work on. We hope to assist him in building a wood storage bin at the Outback (cabin in Tin Cup), cut firewood, pour foundation for the rock wall and other misc. projects. His difficulty will be coordinating the help. On this day (Tues., Sept. 14), Brooks, Jay and Sam spend most of the day at the Outback working on the wood storage bin. Jon got all of the chain saws out and prepared them for wood cutting. I dug foundation for the rock wall and relocated rock. Mom took it easy and put a dent in the new book she started. All in all it was a great first day. The weather was perfect for this time of the year out here - low in the mid 20’s, high in the low 70’s.

On day 3, mom, Sam and Jay rented a boat and fished on the reservoir. They worked hard to catch their limit – fishing for 5 hours. Brooks, Jon and I made the trek to Tin Cup and continued to work on wood storage. Jay and I fished in the afternoon, catching our limit of brookies out of the beaver ponds and streams. The pressure was on all of the fishermen and women to produce since fish was on the menu for this night. They came through. We had a great meal of fried fish, creek fried potatoes, and salad. This was a perfect weather day. The scenery this time of the year is spectacular with the the aspen and willows at various stages of changing colors. By the time we leave the aspen should be close to peak coloration.

Day 4 was another work/play day. Again, we went our separate ways. Mom, Sam and Brooks ventured above Tin Cup to explore some gold mining sites below the old Gold Cup mine. No mother lode yet.

Jon, Jay and I poured concrete foundation for the rock wall.

In the afternoon Brooks and Sam were back to the Outback to work on the wood storage bin while Jon, Jay and I fished the beaver ponds above Tin Cup. Within an hour I had my limit and took a nap while waiting on Jon and Jay. They weren’t quite so successful – but had a nice mess. For dinner tonight we had Jay Singleton’s slow cooked bar-b-que ribs – outstanding meal. Jay and I took our fly rods and fished the inlet at Texas Creek on the reservoir. The good news – no fish to clean on this night. The temps continue to be in the low 20’s in the early morning and in the low 70’s by afternoon.

Taylor Park is open range cattle country and the cowboys were in the Park today gathering up the cattle and preparing to drive them down the canyon to relocate for the winter.

This is black powder elk season and there are several hunters in the area. On two occasions we have seen 2-3 elk on our drive back and forth to Tin Cup and heard cows calling near the cabin one evening. We all are finally getting acclimated to the 2 hour time change and sleeping schedules. By the time we leave – it will be time to adjust back.

On day 5, Jay, Jon and I rented a boat and went fishing on Taylor Reservoir. It was another perfect fall day in the Rockies. The fishing started out slow but by noon we had a nice mess of rainbows. Jon was the master fisherman on this day catching 5. There are several ways to fish the reservoir but I typically only do three. I mentioned previously about fly fishing or casting by wading in the creek inlets. Also, many like to bank fish. The most common for us is to rent a boat and troll, using a long leader of cow bell spoons baited with earth worms or night crawlers. The leader and bait trails the boat by 50-80 foot and we troll around the lake waiting for a strike. We catch mostly rainbow trout but on occasion we might catch a brown or lake trout. Here is documentation of our catch.

Mom and Sam went to Sanford and Cow Creek and explored for more gold. They brought back a couple of buckets of screened sand and gravel to pan. No modern day gold rush at Taylor Park – yet. I mentioned previously about open range cattle grazing. In the last couple of days a heifer died in the meadow several hundred yards from the cabin. We saw two coyotes working on the corpse. Mom and Sam took the old green jeep and drug the calf down in front of the cabin. This will be our entertainment for the next couple of days – watching the coyotes dispose of the calf. This is a picture of the calf with Brooks' cabin in the background.

Brooks went solo this morning on the wood bin project. After cleaning fish – Jon, Jay and I finished pouring the remaining foundation for the rock wall. All told in the two days, we mixed in Brooks’ portable cement mixer about 30 batches of concrete.

On this evening we treated ourselves to dinner in Crested Butte. Our favorite place to eat is Slogar’s. They serve pan fried chicken family style. We all ate too much. Prior to dinner we allowed time to roam the streets of Crested Butte. Jon, Sam and Jay sampled the local flavor, Brooks sat on a bench and wrote a letter and mom visited with a local shop owner.

For some reason, we were all very tired on this night and everyone was in bed by 9 p.m.

Day 6 began with us being entertained by the coyote doing his share to dispose of the calf in the meadow in front of the cabin. Later, the whole bunch of us travelled to the Outback in Tin Cup. Sam and Brooks continued to work on the wood bin while Jon, Jay and I loaded the 47 Willys, on the trailer and wrapped and weatherproofed an old kitchen cabinet to take back to Indiana. Mother supervised.

We also split a big trailer of wood that we had brought from the cabin

. As it is with any Brooks Harting project, the wood bin was well thought out, planned and meticulously constructed. We plan on cutting wood on Sunday and we might even get to stack some wood in it! In the afternoon Sam and Brooks worked some more on the wood bin and checked out neighbor Newt Cole’s hot water heater element. I dropped the red CJ7 jeep off at the Rainbow Subdivision entrance, caught a ride with Brooks and Sam and began fishing and hiking at the Outback in Tin Cup. I followed Willow Creek for 3 miles through some fairly difficult terrain with my fly rod, fishing vest, back pack and waders. I was rewarded with my limit - all brookies with the exception of nice rainbow. This is a stretch of Willow Creek that I Had never fished – one that I will do again.

Jay and Jon fished the beaver ponds above Tin Cup and caught a nice mess. It was another perfect day. Brooks commented that in all of his years of being in Taylor Park during the fall, he could not recall having this many consecutive days of nice weather. We certainly have been blessed with excellent weather that has allowed us to work and play in some of the most scenic country that God created.

Fish, fish and more fish are accumulating in the well house. We made a big dent in the inventory tonight – fixing rainbows on the grill. We also froze 3 cookie sheets of fillets, and brookies for Brooks, Pat and future guests. We still have today’s catch to freeze. There is only one more day on our license - I hope to get out one more time. The Singleton Tribunal gathered around the cowboy fire on this night and made the decision to leave Taylor Park on Monday, Sept. 19, sometime before noon.

Day 7 was a work day. Armed with two trailers, three vehicles, six people and three chainsaws, we headed to below Tin Cup for wood cutting. A wood cutting permit is required on National Forest land. Only dead trees are allowed to be cut. We had already filled a trailer and ½ when a commercial timber cutter stopped to tell us we were on permitted land and not allowed to cut anything but downed timber. We were allowed to finish what we had started but vacated that area. Later in the day we cut 4 trees off the steep bank of Brooks’ neighbor. This wood will be stored and split for next year’s use and should be enough to last through next year. Jon and Jay finished preparing the trailer for the trip back home, strapping and securing the cargo. We did spot 3 elk by Willow Creek in the meadow across from the cabin. This was the third sighting of elk during our stay. Another perfect fall day, the low at 19 degrees, high in the low 70’s. In the evening the Singleton crew began organizing for the trip home.

Day 8 was leaving day, but first we all pitched in to clean the cabin - dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, scrubbing and washing. It is now ready for the next set of visitors. It takes only an hour or so when the whole crew does their share. We packed and organized, took a group picture and hitched up the pickup to the trailer, said good byes and began our 1200 mile trip back to Indiana.

What a great 8 days we had. The fall weather was absolutely perfect. We worked and played hard. Experienced once again the always great hospitality and generosity of cousin, Brooks Harting. And, all four Singleton brothers and their mother thoroughly enjoyed the time that they spent with each other. Thanks, to Brooks for opening his slice of heaven to us. Thanks to Jay for organizing the trip. And, thanks to all of our spouses and families for allowing us to take this magnificent trip. 21 hours after we departed from Brooks’ Shack, we arrived in Vincennes, grabbed and loaded our gear into separate vehicles and returned to our homes. Thanks be to God for good times, the beauty of His creation and safe travels.